


Door One

by they_hear_the_music



Series: Advent Calendar 2015 [1]
Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types
Genre: Advent Calendar 2015, Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Animagus!R, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-01
Updated: 2015-12-01
Packaged: 2018-05-04 08:34:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,139
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5327567
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/they_hear_the_music/pseuds/they_hear_the_music
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>1. Winter expectations vs. winter reality</p>
            </blockquote>





	Door One

**Author's Note:**

> First door for my Les Mis Advent Calendar from [this](http://they-hear-the-music.tumblr.com/post/129599547874) prompt list

The beginning of winter brought a lot of surprises for Grantaire, the biggest being that one evening Grantaire had looked at himself in the mirror, watching his refection frown at his too big nose, his brown unclean skin and his chubby belly, when he had felt a tuck somewhere behind his sternum and he had turned into a cat.

With eyes wide from shock he stared at the small black cat the mirror wanted to make him believe was himself. This had to be some kind of trick, some kind of quirk, that people had just forgotten to tell Grantaire about, something he as a Muggle-born just wouldn't know. There were stairs in the castle that led to nowhere, doors that only pretended to be doors, surely mirrors that pretended you looked like a cat could be a thing. Grantaire looked around and had to crane his neck to even see the bit of blanket hanging off of his bed. Maybe this was a prank, maybe one of the boys in his dorm had hexed the mirror, or someone else had. He could feel the panic rising. That magic was real was still a scary thought, but to experience it, outside of the save classroom environment, was simply overwhelming. Grantaire tried to scream for help but only a whaling meow escaped his mouth. He looked back into the mirror at his refection and a scared kitten looked back at him. He really had turned into a cat and one way or another Grantaire had to find someone to turn him back.

Walking as a cat proved to be harder than he had thought. He fell over his own feet, or paws was more accurate now, a couple of times on his way to the door leading down a flight of stairs to the Hufflepuff common room. The stairs were even harder, Grantaire tumbling down more than he was climbing, until he reached the empty common room. Oh right, everyone was at dinner in the Great Hall right now. Grantaire could wait here for some of the older students to come back, but he was just getting the hang of this cat thing and who knows if he could even convince another student that he was not a cat to be patted. Finding a teacher, even if that meant going by himself, was probably a good idea.

So Grantaire ventured on.

The castle looked different from his new perspective. Vaster and somewhat eery, with everyone at dinner and even Grantaire's soft steps echoing off the castle walls. He noticed the first fault in his logic to look for a teacher himself, when he wandered deeper down the halls, realizing that he had no idea where any of the teachers quarters even were. He was about to panic again when he heard the crying.

It was a small sound far away but distinct through the otherwise still castle and Grantaire sped up his steps without thought, following the sound, his problem forgotten for the moment. Grantaire remembered crying himself on his first night here at Hogwarts, still a bit unsure to why exactly. It wasn't like he was gonna miss his home, definitely not, but having to go to this unbelievable strange place where everyone else seemed to know exactly what they were doing while Grantaire was sill trying to figure out if he was dreaming or not, had shaken up his world quite a bit. So he couldn't help but to feel a connection to someone, who had - like him - chosen not to go to dinner in favor of being sad in a corner.

The boy was sitting on the floor half hidden in the niche he had withdrawn himself into and he was shaking violently. Grantaire moved closer, trying to get the kids attention with a soft meow. The boy's head shot up, long blond hair tumbling down his shoulders and started at Grantaire with wide glassy blue eyes. Grantaire decided that it was probably for the best not to freak the kid out even more so he sat down and looked at the boy, who was staring back at him. So far so good. Then Grantaire let out a loud meow, sounding more demanding than he had intended and to his surprise the boy laughed a bit, the sound escaping his lips involuntarily accompanied by half a sob.

"You're all alone, too?" the kid asked suddenly extending a hand in Grantaire's direction making him flinch away.

"Oh no, no. I'm sorry," the kid immediately said, withdrawing his hand. "Don't go."

Grantaire carefully patted a bit closer pushing his nose against the kids fingers getting a delighted sound out of him as he began to pet Grantaire. The purring came involuntarily and surprised Grantaire a bit, but besides that the whole experience was kind of nice. He wanted to ask the boy why he had been crying but there was a certain language barrier preventing him from doing so. So instead he let him pet his fur until the kid stopped crying. Grantaire was pretty sure that the boy was a first year like himself, they might even had a few classes together. Now that he was thinking about it Grantaire was pretty sure that he had seen him in his history of magic class, and that his name started with an O or an E, Grantaire really wasn't sure. It surprised Grantaire a bit how much he now wished he had payed more attention and remembered the kid's name.

But Grantaire should really get going in his quest to find a teacher and hope he could somehow make them understand what had happened though to be fair Grantaire himself still had no idea what had happened. So Grantaire patted on, not without pushing his head in the kids hand one more time.

From down the hall he could hear the chatter of students leaving the great hall and when he turned around the next corner he spotted Professor McGonagall. Grantaire was not proud of how he ran towards her, sinking his little teeth into her boot but she seemed to understand, because she scooped him up with a muttered "Oh dear," and carried him to her office.

 

That night Grantaire learned that he was an Animagus and that he would have to get himself registered. Professor McGonagall also gave him a book to study and learn about his strange power and told him to come to her first when he would run into problems concerning his Animagi talents, which was especially nice since he wasn't even in her house.

Maybe it was because he now knew that he was undeniably magic, or because how easily and sincere he had been offered help, Grantaire was unsure why exactly, but from this day on he felt at home in Hogwarts.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you liked it I'm [here on tumblr](http://they-hear-the-music.tumblr.com) come and say hi :)


End file.
